Friction feeder



Dec. 10, 1940. F. J. BREMAN ETAL 2,224,137

FRI CT ION FEEDER Filed May 2, 1938 Patented Dec. 10, 1940 UNITED STATESFRICTION FEEDER Frank .1. Breman, Oak Park, and Edward F. Dell, ParkRidge, 111., assignors to Davidson Manufacturing Company, a corporationof Wisconsin Application May 2, 1938, Serial No. 205,560

24 Claims.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a simple andinexpensive friction feed for sheets of paper, or the like, whichvirtually assures that only one sheet of material will be fed l; at atime, even though there is considerable variance in the thickness of thestock being fed to the feeder.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent as the disclosureproceeds and the description is read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing anapplication of the friction feeder of this invention to a printingmachine;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3;I

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, withintermittent portions of the struc ture being broken away to conservespace;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;and

Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged views which will be used in explaining themanner in which the feeder prevents more than one sheet from being fedat a time.

A preferred form of the invention has been chosen for illustration anddescription, in com- 2 other kinds of apparatus, such as foldingmachines of the buckle type, do not require an intermittent feed so thatthelfeeder can be run continuously.

A printing press is indicated diagrammatical ly in Fig. 1 by thereference character Ill, and it comprises a 'printing drum H and aplaten l2. Sheets of paper are fed to the press at timed intervals byfeeding mechanism, generally designated 13, comprising a feed board i4,separator rolls, generally designated 15, pull-out rolls, generallydesignated [6, and a conveyor table, generally designated H. Thedelivery endof the conveying table has associated with it asheetregistering device, generally designated I8, which receives thesheets from the table I! and delivers them with extreme accuracy intothe bite of the printing roll II and platen l2.

The sheet-registering device I8 operates in synchronism with the press10, and the speed at which the press can operate is partially determinedby the ability of the feeding mechanism to deliver sheets to theregistering mechanism IS in sufliciently correct timing relationshipwith the operation of the registering mechanism It! that the latter isgiven an opportunity to properly perform its function.

Since the sheet-registering mechanism forms no part of the presentinvention, it is sufficient to state that it functions by having stopfingers l9, associated with the lower feed roll 20, moved to an uprightposition for a given portion of a cycle of press operation to receiveandend register a sheet delivered to them by the conveyor board ll. As soonas this registry has been accomplished the upper feed roll 2| of theregistering mechanism l8 descends to make contact with the lower roller20, and after the bite has been made the lower roll is automaticallyrotated to deliver the sheet into the bite of the printing roll H andplaten l2. Since this action takes place for each revolution of theprinting drum II, it can readily be understood why it is necessary tohave the feeder l3 deliver the sheets to the registering mechanism l8 inreasonably correct timed relationship.

The feed table M is suitably mounted on the feeder frame 22, and it isprovided with laterally adjustable magazine side walls 23 and 24 so thatthe pile 25 of fanned-out sheets may be centrally positioned withrespect to the feeder mechanism.

The separator rolls l5 comprise a feed roll 26, and a retard roll 21,the former being intermittently driven by a pitman 28, or equivalentmeans, from the press III, with an overrunning clutch 29 beinginterposed in the drive so that the pull-out rolls it may draw the sheetbeing fed by the separator rolls [5 through these rolls, even though theintermittent drive through the pitman has ceased. Theroll 26 is mountedon a shaft 30, to rotate about its own axis, and a clutch 3 I, actuatedby a' rod.32, operating through a clutch arm 33, is provided todisengage the feed roll 26 from the drive through the pitman 28.

The retard roll 2'! is rigidly mounted on a shaft 34, provided witheccentric trunnion bearings 35 journaled in the side frames 22 of thefeeder. The bearings for the trunnions 35 are so located with respect tothe shaft 30 carrying the feed roll 26 that when the retard roll 21 isin substantial flange 39 integral with the side frame 22.

cated at 36 (Fig. 2), the axis of the trunnions 35 is so positioned thatrotation of the retard roll 21 in the direction in which the sheet isadvancing causes the roll to move forward slightly and away from thefeed roll 28, as best shown in Fig. 6, where two sheets of the materialbeing fed are shown in the bite of the'rolls.

The shaft 34 is constantly urged in the opposite direction (that is, ina clockwise direction when viewing the separator rolls as in Fig. 2) bya spring 31, which acts upon the end of an arm 38 rigidly attached tothe shaft 34 and a tation of the shaft, however, in the direction inwhich it is urged by the spring 31 is limited by an adjustable stop 40,which also cooperates with the arm 38, the stop consisting of a.threaded rod 4| passing through the flange 39 on the frame 22, and asimilar flange 42, also integral with the frame 22, adjusting nuts 43being pro-' justed so that the gap '44 between the feed roll 25 andretard roll 21 is slightly less than the thickness of a single sheet ofthe paper or material being fed to the press. The feed roll 26, beingthe driven member, makes contact with the top sheet a and tries to driveit through the gap 44, and normally it accomplishes this functionwithout drawing with it the lower sheet b. If, however, sheet b for somereason sticks to the sheet a, it will enter the bite of the separatorrolls, as shown in Fig. 6, and the retard roll 21, being free to rotateon its eccentric axis, will move slightly to the left and its centerwill move a corresponding distance from the center of the feed roll 26(as indicated by the translation of the normal point of tangency 36). Assoon as this movement takes place, the arm 38 is moved away from thestop 40, and the spring 31 continuously urges it back to its normalposition, with the result that roll 21 has a clockwise force applied toit (Fig. 6), as indicated by the arrow, while the feed roll 26 continuesits rotation to advance the upper sheet a.

It has been found in practice that this ability of the retard roll 21 toyield whenever more than one sheet enters the bite of the separatorrolls, and then exert a force which opposes the movement of the secondsheet, eflectively prevents more than one sheet from being fed to thepullout rolls l5 at a time, and this is so even when the thickness ofthe paper stock in the pile 25 varies within wide limits. In thisrespect the performance of the feeder is exceptional, because heretoforeit has always been necessary to make accurate adjustments for differentstocks of paper.

As soon as the sheet b ,is restrained from going along with the sheet aas the latter moves toward the pull-out rolls IE, it may, and usuallydoes, remain in thebite of the separator rolls after sheet a has beenpulled from those rolls, and it is therefore important that the roll bestopped immediately after the sheet passing to the pull-out rolls hasleft the separator rolls. This is accomplished in the present inventionby continuously urging the shaft 39 axially in a direction to cause theface 46 of the clutch 29 to frictionally engage the friction suri'ace41, associated with the bearing of the shaft 99 (Fig. 3). The axialthrust of the shaft 39 may be convenientlyactangential contact with thefeed roll 26, as indicomplished, by means "of a spring 48, telescopedover the shaft 30 and bearing at one end against the side frame 22 a iat the other end against a collar 49 which may be adjustably positionedon the shaft to obtain the desired thrust. Experience has shown thatthis friction brake is capable of stopping the feed roll 29substantially instantaneously when the sheet being moved by the pull-outrolls l9 leaves the bite of the sepaof somewhat harder rubber: greycommercial 1 compound rubber, 78 durometer, having been foundsatisfactory.-

It is obvious that the retard roll. 21 may take various forms, and maybe mounted in numerous other ways without departing from the spirit ofthis invention. For example, the retard roll 21 may be elliptical inform or ovate, or any other shape, as long as the roll (used in itsbroadest sense) retains its characteristic function of retarding theextra sheet with which it is in cona1 registry.

The pull-out rolls l5 comprise upper and lower rolls 54 and 55, thelatter being formed as a part of the belt roller 5|. The roller 5| ispreferably made of wood and is formed with a shallow groove, asindicated at 56 (Fig. 2), which receives'a rubber facing 51 of suitablehardness. The upper roll 54 is preferably a steel roller, and it iscarried by a jaw 58, flxed to a rod 59 journaled in the side frames 22.The rod 59 is provided at each end with an arm 50, the end of which isconnected to a stud ii on the side frame by a spring 62. The jaw 58 maybe fixed to the rod 59 at any desired angular position of the rod 59, bymeans of a set-screw 63, so that the pressure of the roll 54 on the roll'55 may be conveniently adjusted.

The pressure of the upper roll 54 on the lower roll55 should besuiiicient so that the pull-out rolls l6, which are continuously drivenby a belt 64 through the conveyor belts 52, will draw the sheets ofmaterial delivered to them through the separator rolls l5, againsttheaction of the friction brake at the contacting surfaces 46, 41,associated with the shaft 90. This relationship is necessary so thatwhen the trailing edge of a sheet has left the separator rolls IS theshaft 39 will immediately stop rotating.

It is important to note that the feeder mechanism is extremely simpleand inexpensive to manufacture as compared with most friction feeders,and one reason for this economy in materials and cost of manufacture isthat the sheets are delivered to the press l0 along the center line ofthe feed mechanism. Heretofore it has been the common practice to guidethe sheets alon one side or the other of the conveyor, and to have theseparator rolls and pull-out rolls adjustable stock.

In the present invention the magazine sides 23 and 24 are adjustable soas to intially Position the pile 25 in the center of the feed board II,and the only additional adjustment for lateral 5 registry which isnecessary is to properly position the side guide 53. No lateraladjustment of the separator rolls l5 or the pullout rolls I6 isnecessary or desirable, and because of this fact the lower pull-out roll55 may be made a part of the 10 belt roller 5 I We claim as ourinvention:

1. In a friction feeder, a feed table adapted to support a pile offanned-out sheets, a pair of separator rolls one of which isintermittently driven through an overrunning clutch device, constantlydriven pull-out rolls adapted to receive sheets delivered to them by theseparator rolls, the other separator roll being non-rotatably mounted ona shaft, eccentric trunnion bearings for the shaft,

yieldable means tending to rotate the shaft in a direction to lessen thedistance between the separator rolls, and a stop limiting the rotationof the shaft in that direction.

2. In a friction feeder, a pair of separator mils 28 comprising a feedroll and a retard roll, the former being intermittently driventhrough'an overrunning clutch device, constantly driven pullout rollsadapted to receive sheets from the separator rolls and pull them fromthose rolls, the

30 retard roll being yieldingly held in predetermined cooperativerelationship with the feed roll but being adapted to move away Slightlyfrom that roll when more than one sheet starts to pass between theseparator rolls, and means tending to rotate the retard roll in adirection to oppose forward movement of the sheet with which it is incontact whenever that roll has been moved from its predeterminedcooperative relationship with the feed roll.

40 3. In a friction feeder, separator rolls comprising feed and retardrolls normally held yieldingly in predetermined cooperativerelationship, an intermittent drive for the feed roll through anoverrunning clutch device, driven pull-out rolls adapted to receivesheets from the separator rolls and pull them from those rolls, andmeans tending to rotate the retard roll in the same direction as thefeed roll, to move a sheet rearwardly, whenever the separator rolls havebeen separated 0 by an amount greater than that required for the passageof a single sheet.

4. In a friction feeder, a feed board adapted to support a pile offanned out sheets, separator rolls adapted to successively feed the topsheet 5 from the pile to other apparatus, said separator rollscomprising an upper roll driven in a direction to feed the sheetsforwardly, a lower roll yieldingly held against rotation at apredetermined distance from the upper roll but being 60 adapted; when ithas been moved away from the upper roll by the sheets, to be rotated ina direction to oppose forward movement of the sheet with which it is incontact.

5. In a friction feeder, a pair of separator rolls 65 comprising a feedroll and a retard roll, the former being driven in a direction toadvance sheets of material fed to the rolls and the latter beingyieldingly held in a predetermined cooperative relationship with thefeed roll, and means tend ing to return the retard roll'to its normalposition and simultaneously rotate it in a direction to oppose movementof the sheet with which it is in contact whenever the rolls have beenmoved apart by the entry of more than one sheet with-' 75 in the bite ofthe rolls. I

6. In a friction feeder, a pair of separator rolls comprising a feedroll and a retard roll, the former being driven to advance the sheet andthe latter being substantially non-rotatable, and

means for mounting the retard roll in cooperative 5 relationship withthe feed roll so that when more than one sheet enters the bite of theseparator rolls the retard roll moves away slightly from the feed rollbut is yieldingly urged to its normal position by a force which alsotends to rotate 10 the retard roll in a, direction to oppose movement ofthe sheet with which it is in contact.

'7. In a friction feeder, a pair of separator rolls comprising a feedand a retard roll, the latter being mounted on eccentric hearings insuch a 15 manner that when the roll is rotated in the direction ofmovement of a sheet passing through the rolls the center of the rollmoves away a slight distance from the center of, the feed roll, andresilent means tending to rotate the retard 10 roll in the oppositedirection.

8. In a friction feeder, a pair of separator rolls comprising a feedroll and'a retard roll, the former being moiuited to rotate on its owncenter to advance a sheet passing between the rolls and n the latterbeing rotatable upon an eccentric hearing to move the retard roll awayfrom the feed roll when more than one sheet passes into the bite of theseparator rolls, yieldable means tending to oppose rotation of theretard roll in one direction, "30 and a stop for limiting rotation ofthe retard roll in the opposite direction, thereby fixing the normaldistance between the rollers for the feeding of single sheets.

9. In a friction feeder, a pair of separator rolls 35 comprising a feedroll and a retard roll, the former being mounted to rotate on its owncenter to advance sheets into the bite of the rolls and the latter beingsubstantially non-rotatable and mounted in eccentric bearings positionedso that 4 slight rotation of the retard roll in the direction in whichthe sheets are advanced causes the retard roll to move away from thefeed roll, means constantly urging the retard roll to rotate in adirection to oppose sheet advancement, and an 45 adjustable stop forlimiting rotation of the retard roll in that direction.

10. In a friction feeder, a pair of separator rolls comprising a feedroll and a retard roll, the former being intermittently driven throughan overrunning clutch device, driven pull-out rolls adapted to receivesheets from the separator rolls and pull them from those rolls, theretard roll being yieldingly held in predetermined cooperativerelationship with the feed roll but be- ,55 ing adapted to move awayslightly from the feed roll when more than one sheet starts to passbetween the separator rolls, and means for instantly stopping rotationof the feed roll as soon as the pull-out rolls have drawn a sheet fromthe separatonrolls.

11. In combination, apparatus to which sheets are to be fed inpredetermined timed relationship,

a friction feeder associated with said apparatus including separatorrolls and pull-out rolls, one of the separator rolls beingintermittently driven at intervals corresponding to the timedrelationship with which sheetsare to be fed to said apparatus, means forcontinuously driving the pullout rolls, and means for substantiallyinstan-' taneously stopping the rotation of the intermittently drivenseparator roll as soon as the pullout rolls have drawn a sheet from theseparator rolls.

12. In combination, apparatus to which sheets are to be fed inpredetermined timed relationship, a friction feeder associated with saidapparatus including separator rolls and pull-out rolls, one of theseparator rolls being intermit- 5 tently driven at intervalscorresponding to the timed relationship with which sheets are to be fedto said apparatus, means for continuously driving the pull-out rolls,and means for substantially instantaneously stopping the rotaton 10 ofthe intermittently driven separator roll as soon as the pull-out rollshave drawn a sheet from the separator rolls, said last-named meansincluding a friction device applied to the intermittently drivenseparator roll. A

15 13. In a friction feeder, spaced side frames, a pair of rolls mountedbetween the side frames comprising upper and lower rolls, the upper rollbeing rotatable on its own axis, and means for yieldingly supporting thelower roll in prede- 20 termined cooperative relationship with the upperroll, said means comprising a shaft having eccentric trunnion bearingsjoumaled in the side frame, resilient means tending to rotate the shaft,in a direction to oppose advancement of 25 the sheet with whichthe lowerroll is in contact, an arm attached to the shaft, and an adjustable stopcooperating with the arm to limit rotation of the shaft in the directionin which it is urged by the resilient means.

14. In combination, apparatus to which sheets are to be fed atpredetermned time intervals and in predetermined lateral registry, afriction feeder associated with the apparatus comprising a feed table,separator rolls centrally positioned 35 with respect to the table,pull-out rolls adjacent to the separator rolls and in alinementtherewith, a conveying table for delivering sheets from the pull-outrolls to the apparatus, said conveying table including a side guideadapted to be 40 adjusted through a substantial distance inwardly fromthe edge of the table and a plurality of conveyor tapes biased towardthe side guide, one of the pull-out rolls being a part of the conveyingtape roller.

45 15. In a friction feeder, a pair of separator rolls comprising a feedroll and a retard roll, the former being driven in a direction toadvance sheets of material fed to the rolls and the latter beingyieldingly and normally non-rotatively 60 held in a predeterminedcooperative relationship with the feed roll but rotatable whensufiicient force is transmitted thereto by the feed roll through thesheet in contact therewith, and means causing the separator rolls toseparate 55 automatically in response to said rotation of the retardroll to a distance apart at which the sheet in contact with the feedroll may be fed thereby with relative freedom but at which theopposition to the passage of sheets not already between 60 the separatorrolls is unimpaired.

16. A friction feeder including two separator members, one an advancingroll and the other a retard member adjacent the advancing roll andhaving a surface extending gradually toward 65 the advancing roll in thedirection of movement of the sheets being fed so as to form a bite withthe advancing roll, the retard member being so mounted as to permit itssurface adjacent the advancing roll to move generally in the direction70 of the advancing sheets and simultaneously away from the advancingroll, and'yieldable means resisting such movement of the retard memberand tending to move it in the opposite direction.

17. In a friction feeder, sheet separating means 15 including twocooperating members one of which has a relatively soft sheet engagingsurface and is driven in a direction to advance sheets of material fedto the sheet separating means, and the other of which members has arelatively hard sheet engaging surface and is resiliently urged in adirection that opposes advancement of the sheets by resilient meanspermitting the said other member to be moved generally in the directionof movement of the sheets by two sheets locked together and the twomembers to separate slightly under the influence of said movementwhereby the pressure between the sheets is automatically reduced forsuccessive positions of the sheet as compared to the pressure that wouldbe present without said movement, until the extra sheet is loosened fromthe sheet in contact with the driven member and the latter sheet isadvanced alone due to the relatively high friction between it and thefacing material of the driven member.-

18. A friction feeder including two separator members, one an advancingroll and the other a retard member adjacent the advancing roll andhaving a surface extending gradually toward the advancing roll in thedirection of movement of the sheets being fed so as to form a bite withthe advancing roll, the retard member being so mounted as to permit itssurface adjacent the advancing roll to move generally in the directionof the advancing sheets, and yieldable means resisting such movement ofthe retard member and tending to move it in the opposite direction, saidseparator members being separable'in response to said movement in thedirection of the' advancing sheets.

19. A friction feeder including an advancing roll, a retard memberhaving a curved surface adjacent the advancing roll, means for feedingthe leading edge of a fanned-out stack of sheets to the bite between theadvancing roll and the 40 retard member, means for rotating theadvancing roll when a sheet is desired, the retard member being mountedeccentrically to the sheet-engaging surface thereof to rotate as a bodyabout an axis so positioned that movement of the surface with anadvancing sheet separates the surface from the advancing roll, and meansfor yieldingly resisting such rotation.

20. A friction feeder including two separator members, one an advancingroll and the other a retard member adjacent the advancing roll andhaving a surface extending gradually toward the advancing roll in thedirection of movement of the sheets being fed so as to form a bite withthe advancing roll, the retard member being so mounted as to permit itssurface adjacent the advancing roll to move generally in the directionof the advancing sheets, yieldable means resisting such movement of theretard member and tending to move it in the opposite direction, andmeans for adjusting the normal minimum spacing between the retard memberand the advancing roll for various sheet thicknesses, said separator-members being separable in response to said movement in the directionof the advancing sheets.

21. A friction feeder including an advancing roll, a retard memberadjacent the advancing roll, means for feeding the leading edge of afanned-out stack of sheets to the bite between the advancing roll andthe retard member, and means for rotating the advancing roll when asheet is desired, the retard member being so mounted that itssheet-engaging surface may be moved by the sheets under the influence ofthe advancing roll with a movement initially approximately in thedirection of the sheet movement and being provided with means foropposing said movement, the shapes of the retard member and theadvancing roll being such that as the retard member is moved by two ormore sheets it will during a short movement squeeze the sheetsprogressively more tightly against the advancing roll and flex them.

22. A friction feeder including two separator members, one an advancingroll and the other a retard member adjacent the advancing roll andhaving a surface extending gradually toward the advancing roll in thedirection of movement of the sheets being fed so as to form a bite withthe advancing roll, the retard member being so mounted as to permit itssurface adjacent the advancing roll to move generally in the directionof the advancing sheets and simultaneously away from the advancing roll,yieldable means resisting such movement of the retard member and tendingto move it in the opposite direction, and means for adjusting the normalminimum spacing between the retard member and the advancing roll, theretard member engaging the sheets with less retarding force than theadvancing force exerted on the sheets by the advancing roll but withenough friction to cause the sheets being moved by the advancing roll tomove the surface of the retard member generally in the direction ofsheet movement when two sheets stick together.

23. A friction feeder including two separator members, one an advancingroll and the other a retard member adjacent the advancing roll andhaving a surface extending gradually toward the advancing roll in thedirection of movement of the sheets being'fed so as to form a bite withthe advancing roll, the retard member being so mounted as to permit itssurface adjacent the advancing roll to move generally in the directionof the advancing sheets and simultaneously away from the advancing roll,and yieldable means resisting such movement of the retard member andtending to move it in the opposite direction, the retard member engagingthe sheets with less retarding force than the advancing force exerted onthe sheets by the advancing roll but with enough friction to cause thesheets being moved by the advancing roll to move the surface of theretard member generally in the direction of sheet movement when twosheets stick together.

24. A friction feeder including two separator members, one an advancingroll and the 0th" a retard roll adjacent the advancing roll a forming abite with the advancing roll. the retard roll being eccentricallymounted to permit its surface adjacent the advancing roll to movegenerally in the direction of the advancing sheets and simultaneouslyaway from the advancing roll, yieldable means resisting such movement of$5 the retard roll and means for adjusting the normal minimum spacingbetween the retard roll and the advancing roll; the retard roll engagingthe sheets with less retarding force than the advancing force exerted onthe sheets by the advancing roll but enough friction to cause the sheetsbeing moved by the advancing roll to move the surface of the retard rollgenerally in the direction of sheet movement when two sheets as sticktogether.

FRANK J. BREMAN. EDWARD F. DELL.

